New medical office building approved for construction near hospital

Residents of a subdivision near Gaston Memorial Hospital have voiced concerns about how a new medical office complex will affect their properties.

Michael Barrett

Residents of a subdivision near Gaston Memorial Hospital have voiced concerns about how a new medical office complex will affect their properties.

The proposed new development, which will accommodate an expansion from Carolina Orthopedic in Gastonia, is slated to replace a patch of woods just west of Summit Crossing Place. The site is also bordered by Court Drive, North New Hope Road and Melvin Drive, the latter of which leads to an older residential neighborhood that has been surrounded by commercial growth in the last 30 years.

Despite the uncertainties, Gastonia City Council members on Tuesday approved a conditional use permit that will allow the new, one-story medical office complex to be constructed. The permit was needed to meet county zoning standards because the building will be larger than 25,000 square feet, and the land there only comprises 12.6 acres.

Gaston County owns the property and has been working with a developer to place the medical office building there. It will continue the health care-related growth that has sprung up around CaroMont Health and Gaston Memorial Hospital over the last few decades.

Teresa Connor’s home at 401 Evergreen St. will only be a stone’s throw away from the complex when it is built. She attended a Gastonia Planning Commission meeting last month and opposed the project because of concerns about how it might increase traffic in her neighborhood.

Connor and two other residents also attended Tuesday’s City Council meeting to further question the venture. She could not be reached for comment about her concerns this week.

Gaston County Economic Development Commission Executive Director Donny Hicks and other county officials have said the development will have little to no impact on the residential neighborhood. Traffic will access the new medical complex via Court Drive to the north, not Melvin Drive to the south.

The county will also retain a 25-foot buffer of undisturbed woods around the perimeter of the development, providing some separation from surrounding plots.

Officials have not offered a timetable for when construction might begin.

You can reach Michael Barrett at 704-869-1826 or twitter.com/GazetteMike.

CORRECTION: This story originally carried a logo of CaroMont Health. CaroMont Health is not related to this project.